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Gallaudet University gets new football helmets for deaf athletes
More than 100 years ago, the football team at Gallaudet University – the world's only university created for deaf and hard-of-hearing students – created the modern football huddle. Now, they’re about to change the game again, but this time in a high-tech 5g way. FOX 5’s Tom Fitzgerald is on campus in Northeast D.C.
WASHINGTON - More than 100 years ago, the football team at Gallaudet University – the world's only university created for deaf and hard-of-hearing students – created the modern football huddle. Now, they’re about to change the game again, but this time in a high-tech 5G way.
It can be challenging for coaches to call plays for football players at Gallaudet. So enter this: the world’s very first 5G connected football helmet, which will make it easier for coaches to select plays, and players to see them in their helmets.
Gallaudet University teamed with AT&T to design a 5G-connected football helmet.
The technology lets coaches call plays on a tablet and then displays the play on a screen inside the quarterback’s helmet.
Bison players told FOX 5 the 5G helmet helps deaf and hard-of-hearing players by not having to rely on just visual hand signs for plays.
"At first, it was a little hard to get used to where to look, but once I practiced, I caught on pretty quickly, and everything has gone really well," said Trevin Adams, Gallaudet's quarterback,
"It’s been a huge benefit for us and I think not just for us in the long run but for football players overall even for mainstream people who are deaf and hard of hearing git’s going to be incredible," added John Scarboro, an offensive lineman for the Bison.
AT&T worked with the football staff at Gallaudet for nearly two years to develop the 5G helmet. They made sure not only that it worked, but that it would stand up to the intensity of full-contact college football.
Head coach Chuck Goldstein told FOX 5, "It’s not a cliché’- the 5G helmet has literally been a game changer for the Bison.
"It took some time for us to develop the right helmet and pass, and it’s clear, and it’s safe," Goldstein explained. We had to ask [the NCAA] for a special waiver, so everything is approved, and it’s ready for Saturday."
We won’t have to wait long to see the 5G helmet in action. The Bison take the field Saturday at 9 a.m. when they take on Hilbert College at their campus in Northeast D.C.